Understanding data, AI, sovereignty, and open science

Abstract

Presentation given at the EGI Conference 2026 (Ghent, 23 September 2026) in the session of the CODATA Open Science Cloud Service XI Metadata Task Group, 'Exploring the AI-driven knowledge world with the metadata approach and beyond', following the Task Group's gap analysis presented by Lili Zhang. The presentation sets out where ethics sits in the XI metadata approach. Working from outside the machine, it meets the Task Group's view from inside the machine at the interface, where a service is called. Cooperation between open science clouds is an act: an offer and an acceptance, on terms and conditions, by parties who hold the authority they assert and can be held to what they assert. Machines can generate description; they cannot grant permission, declare aboutness, or answer for use. The presentation draws on four papers of the open science suite: the PILOT Principles, a topology of principles, a topology of the commons, and a shared glossary. The structured AI disclosure, provenance, and assurance statement is deposited with the record.